Posted By Troy E. Renck On May 9, 2009 @ 2:54 pm In National League,Rockies on Deck | 8 Comments

DENVER — Manager Clint Hurdle knows that the whispers have started, that the talk-show grumbling has grown louder. He’s in the last year of his contract. The team is off to a lousy start (11-17), creating speculation that he’s on the hot seat. He said before tonight’s game that he’s prepared to keep fighting to turn his club around.

“I have never backed away from a challenge,” Hurdle said. “Our players need to do honest self-evaluation and I need to do the same. We need to keep hanging in there together.”

Hurdle said that Bob Melvin’s firing in Arizona showes just how fragile the industry is. Melvin was the National League Manager of Year in 2007. Hurdle led the Rockies to the World Series that fall, pushing every right button during their 21-1 streak.

“Sometimes the effort and the focus are there and you don’t get the results. That’s the time when you face the fire, keep mounting up, and get after it,” Hurdle said.

Asked how he could impact change during this critical time, which he admitted has become challenging, he responded thusly:

“The (players) need to make sure if they have something to say, they say it to me. We need to be open and honest with our communication. There are guys who aren’t in places they want to be. But worrying about everyone’s feelings in there and what everybody is thinking is not at the top of my list. At the top of my list is getting better results. I have never made this about me, whether I am here or not here.”

Hurdle singled out the offensive inconsistency as the most puzzling aspect of the disappointing start. The Rockies’ overall batting average ranks 19th in baseball, but they are hitting just .247 against right-handed pitching, 26th overall.

“It is baffling,” said Hurdle, who believes over swinging, especially at hittable fastballs, is at the core of the problem. “There comes a point and time when you can’t keep saying guys are over trying (a common explanation last season). I would be kidding myself if I did that. You are either good enough or you are not. The overall lack of production has been hard to swallow.”

A look at the Rockies’ lineup that will face Florida’s Josh Johnson., with Garrett Atkins back in, but pushed down to sixth in the order: